Helpless
by xoballerinaxo
Summary: After deeming it the best decision, Max leaves the flock in order to keep them out of danger. But when she runs into trouble with the whitecoats, will the flock back her up? More importantly...will Fang? Enjoy :
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, lovely readers! Ahh my second story!!**

**So, here's a little bit about the plot: **

**Max left the flock for a little while because since the institute mainly wanted her, she felt like she was putting the flock in danger by being around them. **

**I know that the real max would never abandon her flock cold turkey….but I thought I'd change it up a bit **

**Enjoy!**

**PROLOGUE**

When worse comes to worse, I was a pretty good fighter. Anything or anyone posing a threat to the flock could guarantee they'd hear from me.

I was bold…fast.

Strong (to say the least.)

If you needed me, I'd be there. I would never back down.

And then I fell in love.

It's funny what that does to a girl.

It's those times when I'm sitting up late at night, watching the flock sleep…hearing their heavy, relaxed breathing.

It was times like that when I thought about everything…for example…Fang and I. We'd fallen in some type of forbidden, storybook love…head over wings in love.

Too bad almost every waking second I was engaged in a battle to the death. (Which made having a normal boy/girl relationship extremely difficult.)

It was hard to tell how long I'd last…how long I'd live. F it wasn't for the flock and Fang----(mostly Fang)-----I would have surrendered a long time ago.

Trust me…the world wouldn't lose anything by losing me. I wasn't exactly "hot stuff". But I knew I had to be strong…for them.

For him.

The weight of being leader bore down heavily on my shoulders---sometimes it was too much to handle.

That's when I cracked.

If you know me at all, you know I'm not a sap. I don't cry. I don't "blush" when I hear the words _I love you._ And I definitely….definitely don't hug.

I'm not like that.

I am Maximum Ride…the fiercest, most powerful mutant 14 year old there is.

Did I mention I was in love?

Yeah.

I did.

**Chapter 1 **

I stood there, my back glued against the wall. My hand were slick and sticky with sweat; tiny beads of perspiration flowing down my forehead and into my eyes. My pupils were rounder than saucers…eyelids pulled back so far you could only see white.

He was getting closer.

My brain was going into overload trying to figure up a plan to get out.

Nothing.

Goosebumps rose on my neck with anxiety and fear. Not the first time…surely not the last.

Where was my flock when I need them? Better yet, where was _I _when my flock needed _me?_

Where were Iggy's sarcastic remarks?

Gazzy's explosives and cute boyish smile?

Nudge's psychobabble and killer fashion sense?

Angel's innocence and blue eyes to make you melt?

And Fang… where was his love? Strong embrace? Midnight eyes?

I realized that for the first time , I…..Maximum-get-over-here-so-I-can-kick-your-butt- Ride, was scared.

Alone. Helpless. Why did I leave them??

I could answer that……I'm an idiot.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

After mentally sulking for 5 minutes instead of conjuring up an escape route, I felt his wet, clammy breath raise the tiny hairs on the back of my neck.

"_Max._" A small voice rose in a whisper. It obviously wasn't him speaking, seeing as to he was literally less than a millimeter away from me and I hadn't felt or heard him talk. He was way too close for comfort, and at this point, I was freaking out.

But if it wasn't him….who could it be?

Oh crap.

You have got to be joking….

Was it _my_ voice???

Not _my_ voice as in _my voice…_but the annoying, pest of a voice that seemed to pop in my head at the perfect times just to tell me what I was doing wrong. It wasn't a shy critic, either.

"_MAX!!"_

The voice was strained, as if spoken through clenched teeth. Soft, but audible.

The whitecoat began strapping down my numb, helpless body to the wall like a prisoner, and I craned my neck as hard as I could to try and locate the "voice" I kept hearing.

Doctor Evil hadn't responded to it, which struck me as odd. (Then again, he didn't have my totally best, mutant sense of hearing. Just saying.)

I waited, feeling completely vulnerable as he sealed the last strap on my left ankle. Wiggle. Nothing. Wiggle. Nothing.

Could this situation possibly get any worse?

Why, of course. Haven't you been paying attention to how utterly crappy my life is??

The voice spoke again, only this time more of a mini yell.

"_MAAXXX!!! I'm over here, you IDIOT!!"_

It's funny how 6 little words could give away a persons identity so quickly.

Iggy.

Every nerve I possessed fired with excitement! He had come to rescue me! I silently debated how I should get his attention without tipping off the lab-rat.

Obviously, I couldn't just blatantly answer him back. I wasn't _that _much of an idiot.

But I also had to consider what I was dealing with : plastered limb from limb to a beige, puke colored wall with an evil-genius-mastermind of a psycho breathing down my neck. Needless to say, that rules out the whole "handy dandy escape" shindig I was so used to using.

What I needed was a distraction.

But what?

Before I had time to think, Iggy was on it.

Welcome to explosives 101.

When trying to form a distraction, tossing your heavy duty hand grenade into a towering shelf of alcoholic chemicals is NOT the way to go! Instead of helping the victim, you will be left with a burning building, an angry unhurt scientist, and of course the scared, livid, and did I mention…COMPLETELY STRAPPED DOWN victim up the creek without a paddle.

Way to go, Ig.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the good reviews guys **** Here is chapter 3 … hope you like it.**

"Wh-what the he…." the scrambling whitecoat wailed and fled from the scene as the blazing fire consumed the area where he had been standing…leaving me high and dry.

Literally.

"Iggy!!", I screamed. "Where the Heck are you…you big retard???!" I managed to scold him between the gut wrenching coughs…now that was what I called talent.

Out of the smoky ruins of a once standing operating table, he appeared, maneuvering his way around the fire despite his blindness.

He scaled his hands over the wall, and finding me, felt the straps.

"Pull hard Max, I'm untying you."

(Up to now, I had been in at least a million "rock and a hard place" dilemmas…but being attached to a burning building with my only rescue source being a blind teenage mutant was definitely going down in my book of firsts.)

I felt unbearable pressure on my shins as Iggy tugged and yanked on the fabric with all his strength.

His blank, glazed eyes panned the room anxiously…he could feel the heat of the rapidly approaching fire on his back.

And the only thing scarier? …was being able to see it.

1….2…3 minutes passed. We were running out of time, but I didn't feel the need to remind him of it…he knew.

"Max…", he stopped working, ears perked. Intent.

"They're coming."

Not something I wanted to hear right about now.

But inevitably, the sound of heavy frantic footsteps storming down the hall could be heard even over the fires bellowing roar.

"Theres NO TIME!!" he yelled, shooting me one of his most famous looks.

The old "I can't see you right now, but I know you know what this look means" look.

It was the "all out of ideas" look…..the one I hated the most.

Racking my brain, I arched my back, inhaling to the tippy top of my lungs…mustering every ounce of courage and strength I had left. Iggy immediately backed off… he could tell I was about 2 seconds from ripping the very wall off its hinges.

Smart boy.

Breathe in…breathe out.

1…2……3….

Viola.

I was free!!

"Run, Ig!" I tapped the back of his left hand, signaling him which way to go.

We bolted fast….strong.

Almost as if we were running from a burning building. (Ha, I just crack myself up sometimes.)

The rush of fresh air hit me like a 2 ton semi, pouring itself into my happily receiving lungs…it felt amazing.

I glanced over to see how Iggy was faring, and chuckled a bit at the sight of him doubled over on the grass hacking out his brains. (Psh…and _he_ was supposed to be the "rescue".)

Trying to suppress my laughter, I tapped his hand once again, letting him no it was time to jet.

And there we were.

Ascending into the breezy, non life threatening air……..freedom.


End file.
